Martin O`Malley on Budget & Economy

Democrat

Fix is neither socialism nor crony capitalism

Q: How important a role should corporate America play in a healthy economy?

CLINTON: I want to be the president for the striving AND the successful. But I want to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share,

SANDERS: The greed of Wall Street is
destroying this economy. We have got to break the large financial institutions up.

O'MALLEY: I look at our economy as an ecosystem. And the fact of the matter is that the more fully people participate, the more our workers earn, the more they will
spend, the more our economy will grow. And most heads of businesses--large, medium and small--understand that. But there is a better way forward than either of those offered by my two opponents here on this stage. We're not going to fix what ails
our economy, we're not going to make wages go up for everyone by either trying to replace American capitalism with socialism, nor will we fix it by submitting to sort of Wall Street-directed crony capitalism.

Our economy was wrecked by the big banks of Wall Street

O'MALLEY: Our economy was wrecked by the big banks of Wall Street. And Secretary Clinton, when you put out your proposal on Wall Street, it was greeted by many as "Weak tea". It is weak tea. It is not what the people expect of our country.
We expect that our president will protect the main street economy from excesses on Wall Street. And that's why Bernie's right. We need to reinstate a modern version of Glass-Steagall and we should have done it already.

CLINTON:
For me, it is looking at what works and what we need to do to try to move past what happened in '08. And AIG was not a big bank. It had to be bailed out and it nearly destroyed us. Lehman Brothers was not a big bank. It was an investment bank. And its
bankruptcy and its failure nearly destroyed us. So I've said, if the big banks don't play by the rules, I will break them up. And I will also go after executives who are responsible for the decisions that have such bad consequences for our country.

Economic injustice is tearing our country apart

Thanks to President Obama, our country has come a long way since the Wall Street crash of 2008. Our country's doing better, we are creating jobs again. But we elected a president, not a magician, and there is urgent work that needs to be done right now.
For there is a deep injustice, an economic injustice that threatens to tear our country apart, and it will not solve itself. Injustice does not solve itself.

What I'm talking about is this, our middle class is shrinking. Our poor families are becoming poorer, and 70 percent of us are earning the same, or less than we were 12 years ago. We need new leadership, and we need action.
The sort of action that will actually make wages go up again for all American families.

Our economy isn't money, it's people. It's all of our people, and so we must invest in our country.

Fight banks that are too big to jail & too big to fail

Q: How would you be different than President Obama's administration?

O'MALLEY: I would follow through on the promise that the American people thought we made as Democratic Party, to protect the Main Street economy from recklessness on Wall Street.
I would push to separate out these too-big-to-jail, too-big-to-fail banks, and put in place Glass-Steagall, a modern Glass-Steagall that creates a firewall so that this wreckage of our economy can never happen again.

Why weren't Wall Street CEOs convicted in 2008 meltdown?

[Our current] economy has so concentrated wealth in the hands of the very few that it has taken opportunity from the homes of the many. Main Street struggles, while Wall Street soars.

Tell me how it is, that not a single Wall Street CEO was convicted
of a crime related to the 2008 economic meltdown. Not. A. Single. One.

Tell me how it is, that you can get pulled over for a broken tail light in our country, but if you wreck the nation's economy you are untouchable. This is not how our economy is
supposed to work! This is not how our country is supposed to work! This is not the American Dream!

Our economy isn't money, our economy is people--all of our people. We measure success by the growing prosperity and security of our people--all of our
people. A stronger middle class is not the consequence of economic growth--a stronger middle class is the cause of economic growth. Together, as one nation we must build an American economy that works again for all of us.

Reinstate Glass-Steagall: separate investments from banking

O'Malley wants to reinstate Glass-Steagall, the 1933 act that created a fire-break between traditional banks and riskier investment banking activities, which president Bill Clinton repealed in 1999, a move that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.

Tax reductions & regulatory reforms to help job creators

High taxes, over-regulation, and an anti-business attitude are clearly the cause of our economic problems.

40 consecutive tax hikes have taken an additional $10 billion out of the pockets of struggling Maryland families and small businesses.

We've lost more than 8,000 businesses, and Maryland's unemployment nearly doubled.

We're number three in the nation in foreclosures, and dead last in manufacturing.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for us to listen to Maryland's hard working taxpayers and our job creators. The people of Maryland simply cannot afford for us to continue on the same path of more spending, more borrowing, more taxes, and politics as
usual. It is time for a new direction for Maryland. Our administration will work to enact the necessary budgets, tax reductions, regulatory reforms, and legislation that is necessary, to ensure that we turn our economy around.

Closed $1.7 billion budget deficit in 7 years

Q: Your state budget has a fairly large deficit. What happened there?

O'MALLEY: Yeah. We have been restoring fiscal responsibility for these last seven years. We inherited a $1.7 billion deficit from our predecessor. We're on the verge of closing
that. In the budget that I submit this week, we will close it without any new taxes. Part of what drives our budget, of course, is the economy and the pace of this recession. And it has been an extended recession. However, I've cut more in spending than
any governor in modern history, and yet we've also been able to make the record investments in education, transportation infrastructure and innovation. And what we also have been able to do is to maintain a AAA bond rating

Q: But if I understand you,
there will be no deficit projected into next year?

O'MALLEY: Those forecasts depend on what sort of rate of growth you put into the economy. The best way for every state to reduce its deficit is for our national economy to grow at a faster pace.

Middle-out economics instead of trickle-down economics

Q: Over the last seven years, you've raised state income taxes on the top 15%. You supported same-sex marriage, the Dream Act, gun control. Now, you're looking at an increase in the minimum wage.

O'MALLEY: Well, I believe that the people of our state
and, also, the people of our country, want us to make choices on their behalf that yield results, results that make our economy grow by making our middle class grow. And I'm proud of each of those things. I'm proud of the people of our state.
But, also, being an inclusive people, respecting the dignity of every individual, these things are also good for an economy. These things are good for building an innovation economy and attracting the most talented workforce. I think they all go
together. What the people of our country want is not ideology, not trickle-down economics, but middle-out economics, where we strengthen our middle class to grow our economy and to give our kids a better future.

Obama inherited worst economy since the Great Depression

Facts are facts: No president since Franklin Roosevelt in the Great Depression inherited a worse economy, bigger job losses or deeper problems from his predecessor. But Pres. Obama is moving America forward, not back.

Romney wants to take America
back. Back to what? Back to the failed policies that drove us into a deep recession? Back to the days of record job losses? Instead of a balanced, achievable plan to create jobs and reduce the deficit, Romney says he will cut taxes for millionaires.

Source: 2012 Democratic National Convention speech
, Sep 4, 2012

Limit budget growth to below inflation

Facing structural deficits amounting to more than $4 billion in the years to come, I ask you to approve a rate of growth in this year’s budget that is just 2.5%--now that is lower than the rate of inflation, and it is lower than last year’s 12%
rate of growth in government spending, and it is lower than 9 of the last 10 state budgets.